On-chain governance of blockchain

ABSTRACT

An example operation may include one or more of receiving a request to commit a blockchain request to a hash-linked chain of blocks stored on a distributed ledger, extracting governance policies which are encoded within a data block of the hash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger, determining if the blockchain request satisfies the extracted governance policies of the hash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger, and in response to the blockchain request satisfying the extracted governance policies, executing the blockchain request and storing the executed blockchain request within another data block of the hash-linked chain of data blocks on the distributed ledger.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application generally relates to governance policies for ablockchain, and more particularly, to a blockchain in which governancepolicies for controlling interaction with the blockchain are storedon-chain.

BACKGROUND

Although, primarily used for financial transactions, a blockchain canstore various information related to goods and services (i.e., products,packages, statuses, etc.). A decentralized scheme provides authority andtrust to a decentralized network and enables its nodes to continuouslyand sequentially record transactions on a public “block”, creating aunique “chain” referred to as a blockchain. Hashing may be used tocreate an immutable ledger without the need for a central intermediary.The records (e.g., transactions) stored on the blockchain are securedfrom tampering and revision due to the immutable properties of theblocks storing the transactions. Furthermore, because a blockchain is adistributed system, before adding a block of transactions to ablockchain ledger, peers need to reach a consensus status.

A permissioned blockchain has different organizations with differentstakes and authorities all sharing access to a single data structure(the blockchain). Depending on these stakes and authorities, differentgovernance models may be adopted. Governance policies are critical to ablockchain because they formalize mechanisms for creating, updating, andabandoning elements of the blockchain. In particular, the governancerules enable a blockchain network to fix issues as needed. Such fixescan address fraud and hacks, and also ensure that members are satisfiedwith the system. Conventionally, governance rules are agreed to andmanaged socially (off-chain). However, the governance rules agreed tooff-chain are static, not enforceable by members other than an admin,and they are not modifiable. As such, what is needed is a better way forgoverning a blockchain.

SUMMARY

One example embodiment may provide a method that includes one or more ofreceiving a request to commit a blockchain request to a hash-linkedchain of blocks stored on a distributed ledger, extracting governancepolicies which are encoded within a data block of the hash-linked chainof blocks on the distributed ledger, determining if the blockchainrequest satisfies the extracted governance policies of the hash-linkedchain of blocks on the distributed ledger, and in response to theblockchain request satisfying the extracted governance policies,executing the blockchain request and storing the executed blockchainrequest within another data block of the hash-linked chain of datablocks on the distributed ledger.

Another example embodiment may provide a system that includes one ormore of a network interface configured to receive a request to commit ablockchain request to a hash-linked chain of blocks stored on adistributed ledger, and a processor configured to one or more of extractgovernance policies which are encoded within a data block of thehash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger, determine if theblockchain request satisfies the extracted governance policies of thehash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger, and, in responseto successful satisfaction of the extracted governance policies, executethe blockchain request and store the executed blockchain request withinanother data block of the hash-linked chain of data blocks on thedistributed ledger.

A further example embodiment may provide a non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions, that when read by a processor,cause the processor to perform one or more of receiving a request tocommit a blockchain request to a hash-linked chain of blocks stored on adistributed ledger, extracting governance policies which are encodedwithin a data block of the hash-linked chain of blocks on thedistributed ledger, determining if the blockchain request satisfies theextracted governance policies of the hash-linked chain of blocks on thedistributed ledger, and in response to the blockchain request satisfyingthe extracted governance policies, executing the blockchain request andstoring the executed blockchain request within another data block of thehash-linked chain of data blocks on the distributed ledger.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a blockchain network for managinggovernance information on-chain, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a peer node blockchain architectureconfiguration for an asset sharing scenario, according to exampleembodiments.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a transaction flow between peer nodes,according to example embodiments.

FIG. 2C is a diagram illustrating a governance policy modification flowbetween peer nodes, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a permissioned blockchain network,according to example embodiments.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a process of storing governancepolicies within a blockchain, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating data block content includinggovernance policy information, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating governance policy content that may bestored on a blockchain, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating a recursive data structure storingsignature policy data for governing a blockchain, according to exampleembodiments.

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a method of encoding and storinggovernance information on-chain, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a method for verifying a blockchaintransaction satisfies on-chain governance policies, according to exampleembodiments.

FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a method of modifying governanceinformation stored on-chain, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 5D is a diagram illustrating a method of determining a signaturepolicy from a recursive data structure, according to exampleembodiments.

FIG. 5E is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a blockchaintrust rating, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a physical infrastructure configuredto perform various operations on a blockchain in accordance with one ormore operations described herein, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a smart contract configuration amongcontracting parties and a mediating server configured to enforce smartcontract terms on a blockchain, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating a system for determining trustinformation of blockchains according to example embodiments.

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a user interface outputting a trustindicator for blockchains according to example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example computer system configuredto support one or more of the example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the instant components, as generallydescribed and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments of at least one of amethod, apparatus, non-transitory computer readable medium and system,as represented in the attached figures, is not intended to limit thescope of the application as claimed but is merely representative ofselected embodiments.

The instant features, structures, or characteristics as describedthroughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “exampleembodiments”, “some embodiments”, or other similar language, throughoutthis specification refers to the fact that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentmay be included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of thephrases “example embodiments”, “in some embodiments”, “in otherembodiments”, or other similar language, throughout this specificationdo not necessarily all refer to the same group of embodiments, and thedescribed features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

In addition, while the term “message” may have been used in thedescription of embodiments, the application may be applied to many typesof network data, such as, packet, frame, datagram, etc. The term“message” also includes packet, frame, datagram, and any equivalentsthereof. Furthermore, while certain types of messages and signaling maybe depicted in exemplary embodiments they are not limited to a certaintype of message, and the application is not limited to a certain type ofsignaling.

A blockchain is a distributed system which includes multiple nodes thatcommunicate with each other. The blockchain operates programs referredto as chaincode (e.g., smart contracts, etc.), holds state and ledgerdata, and executes transactions. Some transactions are operationsinvoked on the chaincode. In general, blockchain transactions typicallymust be “endorsed” by certain blockchain members and only endorsedtransactions may be committed to the blockchain and have an effect onthe state of the blockchain. Other transactions which are not endorsedare disregarded. There may exist one or more special chaincodes formanagement functions and parameters, collectively called systemchaincodes.

Nodes are the communication entities of the blockchain system. A “node”may perform a logical function in the sense that multiple nodes ofdifferent types can run on the same physical server. Nodes are groupedin trust domains and are associated with logical entities that controlthem in various ways. Nodes may include different types, such as aclient or submitting-client node which submits a transaction-invocationto an endorser (e.g., peer), and broadcasts transaction-proposals to anordering service (e.g., ordering node). Another type of node is a peernode which can receive client submitted transactions, commit thetransactions and maintain a state and a copy of the ledger of blockchaintransactions. Peers can also have the role of an endorser, although itis not a requirement. The ordering node is a node running thecommunication service for all nodes, and which implements a deliveryguarantee, such as a broadcast to each of the peer nodes in the systemwhen committing transactions and modifying a world state of theblockchain which identifies current values of the blockchain and mayfurther include control and setup information.

The distributed ledger is a sequenced, tamper-resistant record of allstate transitions of a blockchain. State transitions may result fromchaincode invocations (e.g., transactions or other requests, etc.)submitted by participating parties (e.g., client nodes, ordering nodes,endorser nodes, peer nodes, etc.) A transaction may result in a set ofasset key-value pairs being committed to the ledger as one or moreoperands, such as creates, updates, deletes, and the like. The ledgerincludes the blockchain (also referred to as a hash-linked chain) whichis used to store an immutable, sequenced record in blocks. The ledgeralso includes a state database which maintains a current state of therecords stored on the blockchain. There is typically one distributedledger per channel. Each peer node maintains a copy of the distributedledger for each channel of which they are a member.

A chain is a transaction log which is structured as hash-linked sequenceof blocks, and each block may contain a sequence of N transactions whereN is equal to or greater than one. The block header includes a hash ofthe block's transactions, as well as a hash of the prior block's header.In this way, all transactions on the ledger may be sequenced andcryptographically linked together. Accordingly, it is not possible totamper with the ledger data without breaking the hash links. A hash of amost recently added blockchain block represents every transaction on thechain that has come before it, making it possible to ensure that allpeer nodes are in a consistent and trusted state. The chain may bestored on a peer node file system (i.e., local, attached storage, cloud,etc.), efficiently supporting the append-only nature of the blockchainworkload.

The current state of the immutable ledger represents the latest valuesfor keys that are included in the chain transaction log. Because thecurrent state represents the latest key values known to a channel, it issometimes referred to as the world state. Chaincode invocations executetransactions against the current state data of the distributed ledger.To make these chaincode interactions efficient, the latest values of thekeys may be stored in a state database. The state database may be anindexed view into the chain's transaction log that be regenerated fromthe chain at any time. The state database may automatically be recovered(or generated if needed) upon peer node startup, and before transactionsare accepted.

Example embodiments provide methods, systems, non-transitory computerreadable media, devices, and/or networks, which provide for managementof blockchain governance policies on-chain. In some embodiments,governance policies and policy data are encoded within a data block andstored on a blockchain controlled by the governance policies. Theblockchain (and the governance policies) may be stored on a distributedledger which is distributed (i.e., replicated) across multipleblockchain peer nodes. The example embodiments also provide formechanisms to modify the governance policies on-chain. For example, ablockchain peer node can propose a change to a governance policy,identify one or more parties which are required to endorse themodification, and solicit signatures from the one or more parties. Themodification to the governance policy can be stored within a data blockjust as a traditional blockchain transaction.

The instant application solves the drawbacks of managing governanceoff-chain such as rigidity and lack of security by encoding governancerules for the chain into the chain itself (i.e., within a data block),whereas prior governance solutions relied upon external socialconstructs. For example, the governance policies can be dynamicallymodified or otherwise adapted based on requests from member nodes of theblockchain. Some of the benefits of such a system include the ability toverify that governance policies are being followed at each stage of theblockchain process, update (add, delete, modify) established governancepolicies based on signature policies stored on the chain, management ofan immutable record of changes to governance policies and the partiesthat authorized such modifications, and the like. Also, governancepolicies are no longer rigid rules set in stone off-chain, but can bemodified and adapted as members see fit making the governance policyconfigurable. The present application also provides for determining anamount of trust or trust level of a blockchain based on blockchain dataincluding the governance policies of the blockchain which are encodedtherein.

Blockchain is different from a traditional database in that blockchainis not a central storage but rather a decentralized, immutable, andsecure storage, where nodes must share in changes to records in thestorage. Some properties that are inherent in blockchain and which helpimplement the blockchain include, but are not limited to, an immutableledger, smart contracts, security, privacy, decentralization, consensus,endorsement, accessibility, and the like, which are further describedherein. According to various aspects, the on-chain management ofblockchain governance is implemented due to immutable properties of theblockchain, consensus, endorsement, security, and distributed aspectswhich are inherent and unique to blockchain. In particular, theblockchain may start with an initial set of governance rules, encoded aspolicies within a genesis block of the blockchain. Modifications to thegovernance policies may be performed by collecting endorsements fromdifferent stakeholders in the chain until agreement sufficient tosatisfy the policies implies consensus from the different partiesoperating on the blockchain network. Once modified, the blockchainapplies the governance changes for any new block stored on the chain.Because changes to the governance is tracked on the chain, it is alwayspossible to identify which members approved the governance action orchange in governance.

The example embodiments provide numerous benefits over a traditionaldatabase. For example, through the blockchain the embodiments providefor on-chain management and modification to governance policies of theblockchain. Meanwhile, a traditional database could not be used toimplement the example embodiments because of the requirement fordecentralized agreement. In a traditional database, the controllingentity can modify the governance records without consent of theparticipants and without record of their modification. This type ofunilateral control enables a single entity to determine how to governthe database. In contrast, the blockchain enables decentralizedmanagement among differing parties (and often different organizations)on a permissioned blockchain network. Accordingly, the exampleembodiments provide for a specific solution to a problem the field ofblockchain/information systems technology.

The example embodiments also change how data may be stored within ablock structure of the blockchain. For example, governance policyinformation and a recursive data structure identifying signaturepolicies associated with the governance policies may be stored within adata segment of a data block on the blockchain. By storing governanceinformation and signature policy information within data blocks of ablockchain, the governance information and the signature information maybe appended to an immutable ledger through a hash-linked chain ofblocks. In some embodiments, the data block may be stored on a samechain as other transactions within a traditional block structure. Forexample, a block may contain both governance information transactions aswell as traditional blockchain transactions.

FIG. 1 illustrates a blockchain network 100 for managing governanceinformation on-chain, according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG. 1, the network 100 includes a blockchain admin 110 (e.g.,blockchain operator, etc.) and a plurality of peer nodes 120-124 whichare connected to each other via a network 130. Here, each of the peernodes 120-124 may manage and store a blockchain that is shared among thenodes 120-124. Because the blockchain is distributed across the peernodes 120-124, the peer nodes 120-124 control when and how changes todata stored on the blockchain are made based on agreement among the peernodes 120-124 rather than relying on a central authority.

According to various embodiments, when the blockchain is initialized bythe blockchain admin 110, the blockchain admin 110 may encode governancepolicies for the blockchain within a data block such as the genesis datablock (block 0) of the blockchain. The initial set of governancepolicies may be agreed to socially, off-chain, but may be storedon-chain through the data block. The blockchain admin 110 may encode thegovernance policies and other information such as signature policiesinto a genesis block and distribute the genesis block to the otherparticipants such as peer nodes 120-124.

The peer nodes 120-124 may review the governance policies encoded intothe genesis block and either join the chain signaling their agreement tothe governance rules, or decide not to join the chain. Once joined, allparties process transactions, including transactions which update thegovernance policies, according to the rules laid out by the blockchainadmin 110 within the governance policy information of the genesis block.When a valid transaction which modifies (or adds to, or deletes part of)the governance policies is subsequently committed to the blockchain, theblockchain (and the network entities) operates under the updatedgovernance rules for all subsequent transactions until a nextmodification occurs.

The initial governance policy information encoded in the genesis blockmay include named policies, policy data, a reference to a signaturepolicy which controls modification of the governance policy, and thelike. The initial governance policy information may represent theinitial governance agreement among the peer nodes 120-124 of the chainwhich are formalized and made immutable through storage on the immutableblockchain ledger. When a governance policy is mutated or otherwisemodified (added, deleted, etc.), the modified policy may be stored inthe data section of a new block in the blockchain thereby leaving animmutable record of modifications to the governance policies within theblockchain.

FIG. 2A illustrates a blockchain architecture configuration 200,according to example embodiments. Referring to FIG. 2A, the blockchainarchitecture 200 may include certain blockchain elements, for example, agroup of blockchain nodes 202. The blockchain nodes 202 may include oneor more nodes 204-210. (4 nodes are depicted by example only). Thesenodes participate in a number of activities, such as blockchaintransaction addition and validation process (consensus). One or more ofthe blockchain nodes 204-210 may endorse transactions and may provide anordering service for all blockchain nodes in the architecture 200. Ablockchain node may initiate a blockchain authentication and seek towrite to a blockchain immutable ledger stored in blockchain layer 216, acopy of which may also be stored on the underpinning physicalinfrastructure 214. The blockchain configuration may include one orapplications 224 which are linked to application programming interfaces(APIs) 222 to access and execute stored program/application code 220(e.g., chaincode, smart contracts, etc.) which can be created accordingto a customized configuration sought by participants and can maintaintheir own state, control their own assets, and receive externalinformation. This can be deployed as a transaction and installed, viaappending to the distributed ledger, on all blockchain nodes 204-210.

The blockchain base or platform 212 may include various layers ofblockchain data, services (e.g., cryptographic trust services, virtualexecution environment, etc.), and underpinning physical computerinfrastructure that may be used to receive and store new transactionsand provide access to auditors which are seeking to access data entries.The blockchain layer 216 may expose an interface that provides access tothe virtual execution environment necessary to process the program codeand engage the physical infrastructure 214. Cryptographic trust services218 may be used to verify transactions such as asset exchangetransactions and keep information private.

The blockchain architecture configuration of FIG. 2A may process andexecute program/application code 220 via one or more interfaces exposed,and services provided, by blockchain platform 212. The code 220 maycontrol blockchain assets and may be operated according to (in obeyanceof) governance policies that are stored on the blockchain. For example,the code 220 can store and transfer data, and may be executed by nodes204-210 in the form of a smart contract and associated chaincode withconditions or other code elements subject to its execution. As anon-limiting example, smart contracts may be created to executereminders, updates, and/or other notifications subject to the changes,updates, etc. The smart contracts can themselves be used to identifyrules associated with authorization and access requirements and usage ofthe ledger. For example, transaction information 226 may be processed byone or more processing entities (e.g., virtual machines) included in theblockchain layer 216. The transaction result 228 may includemodifications to governance policies of the blockchain. The physicalinfrastructure 214 may be utilized to retrieve any of the data orinformation described herein.

Within chaincode, a smart contract may be created via a high-levelapplication and programming language, and then written to a block in theblockchain. The smart contract may include executable code which isregistered, stored, and/or replicated with a blockchain (e.g.,distributed network of blockchain peers). Smart contracts are createdand executed under the governance rules defined within the blockchain. Atransaction is an execution of the smart contract code which can beperformed in response to conditions associated with the smart contractbeing satisfied. The executing of the smart contract may trigger atrusted modification(s) to a state of a digital blockchain ledger. Themodification(s) to the blockchain ledger caused by the smart contractexecution may be automatically replicated throughout the distributednetwork of blockchain peers through one or more consensus protocols.

The smart contract may write data to the blockchain in the format ofkey-value pairs. Furthermore, the smart contract code can read thevalues stored in a blockchain and use them in application operations.The smart contract code can write the output of various logic operationsinto the blockchain. The code may be used to create a temporary datastructure in a virtual machine or other computing platform. Data writtento the blockchain can be public and/or can be encrypted and maintainedas private. The temporary data that is used/generated by the smartcontract is held in memory by the supplied execution environment, thendeleted once the data needed for the blockchain is identified.

A chaincode may include the code interpretation of a smart contract,with additional features. As described herein, the chaincode may beprogram code deployed on a computing network, where it is executed andvalidated by chain validators together during a consensus process. Thechaincode receives a hash and retrieves from the blockchain a hashassociated with the data template created by use of a previously storedfeature extractor. If the hashes of the hash identifier and the hashcreated from the stored identifier template data match, then thechaincode sends an authorization key to the requested service. Thechaincode may write to the blockchain data associated with thecryptographic details. In FIG. 2A, the transaction data 226 may includegovernance policy data. One function may be to generate a modificationto the governance policy data 228, which may be provided to one or moreof the nodes 204-210.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a transactional flow 230 between nodesof the blockchain in accordance with an example embodiment. Each of thetransactions performed in FIG. 2B may be governed by (and obey)governance policies which are stored within a data block of theblockchain. Referring to FIG. 2B, the transaction flow may include atransaction proposal 241 sent by an application client node 240 to anendorsing peer node 231. The endorsing peer 231 may verify the clientsignature and execute a chaincode function to initiate the transaction.The output may include the chaincode results, a set of key/valueversions that were read in the chaincode (read set), and the set ofkeys/values that were written in chaincode (write set). The proposalresponse 242 is sent back to the client 240 along with an endorsementsignature, if approved.

The client 240 assembles the endorsements into a transaction payload 243and broadcasts it to an ordering service node 234. The ordering servicenode 234 then delivers ordered transactions as blocks to all peers231-233 on a channel. Before committal to the blockchain, each peer231-233 may validate the transaction and also verify the governancepolicies are satisfied. For example, the peers 231-233 may check theendorsement policy to ensure that the correct allotment of the specifiedpeers have signed the results and authenticated the signatures againstthe transaction payload 243. As another example, the peers may determinewhether the transaction satisfies governance policies stored on-chainwhere the block is to be committed.

Referring again to FIG. 2B, the client node 240 initiates thetransaction 241 by constructing and sending a request to the peer node231, which is an endorser. The client 240 may include an applicationleveraging a supported software development kit (SDK), such as NODE,JAVA, PYTHON, and the like, which utilizes an available API to generatea transaction proposal. The proposal is a request to invoke a chaincodefunction so that data can be read and/or written to the ledger (i.e.,write new key value pairs for the assets). The SDK may serve as a shimto package the transaction proposal into a properly architected format(e.g., protocol buffer over a remote procedure call (RPC)) and take theclient's cryptographic credentials to produce a unique signature for thetransaction proposal.

In response, the endorsing peer node 231 may verify (a) that thetransaction proposal is well formed, (b) the transaction has not beensubmitted already in the past (replay-attack protection), (c) thesignature is valid, and (d) that the submitter (client 240, in theexample) is properly authorized to perform the proposed operation onthat channel. The endorsing peer node 231 may take the transactionproposal inputs as arguments to the invoked chaincode function. Thechaincode is then executed against a current state database to producetransaction results including a response value, read set, and write set.However, no updates are made to the ledger at this point. In 242, theset of values, along with the endorsing peer node's 231 signature ispassed back as a proposal response 242 to the SDK of the client 240which parses the payload for the application to consume.

In response, the application of the client 240 inspects/verifies theendorsing peers signatures and compares the proposal responses todetermine if the proposal response is the same. If the chaincode onlyqueried the ledger, the application would inspect the query response andwould typically not submit the transaction to the ordering node service234. If the client application intends to submit the transaction to theordering node service 234 to update the ledger, the applicationdetermines if the specified endorsement policy has been fulfilled beforesubmitting the transaction (i.e., did all peer nodes necessary for thetransaction endorse the transaction). In this example, the client 240may include only one of multiple parties to the transaction. In thiscase, each client may have their own endorsing node, and each endorsingnode will need to endorse the transaction. The architecture is such thateven if an application selects not to inspect responses or otherwiseforwards an unendorsed transaction, the endorsement policy will still beenforced by peers and upheld at the commit validation phase.

After successful inspection, in step 243 the client 240 assemblesendorsements into a transaction and broadcasts the transaction proposaland response within a transaction message to the ordering node 234. Thetransaction may contain the read/write sets, the endorsing peerssignatures and a channel ID. The ordering node 234 does not need toinspect the entire content of a transaction in order to perform itsoperation, instead the ordering node 234 may simply receive transactionsfrom all channels in the network, order them chronologically by channel,and create blocks of transactions per channel.

The blocks of the transaction are delivered from the ordering node 234to all peer nodes 231-233 on the channel. The transactions 244 withinthe block are validated to ensure any endorsement policy is fulfilledand to ensure that there have been no changes to ledger state for readset variables since the read set was generated by the transactionexecution. Transactions in the block are tagged as being valid orinvalid. Furthermore, in step 245 each peer node 231-233 appends theblock to the channel's chain, and for each valid transaction the writesets are committed to current state database. An event is emitted, tonotify the client application that the transaction (invocation) has beenimmutably appended to the chain, as well as to notify whether thetransaction was validated or invalidated.

FIG. 2C illustrates a governance policy modification flow 250 betweenpeer nodes, according to example embodiments. Referring to the exampleof FIG. 2C, in 261, an initiator node 251 (e.g., blockchain peer node)may determine or otherwise receive a request to change a governancepolicy established for a blockchain to which the initiator node 251 is amember. After an initial bootstrap of the governance policies isperformed by storing the initial governance policies to a genesis blockof the blockchain, the governance policies may be modified (i.e.,changed, added, deleted, etc.). The initiator node 251 that wishes tomodify the governance policy identifies the aspects of the governanceconfiguration which the initiator node 251 wishes to modify from thepreviously stored governance information stored on the blockchain. Eachelement to be modified has an associated governing ‘modification policy’which indicates the conditions for agreement which must be satisfied tomodify that element.

The initiator node 251 may identify a node (or combination of nodes)that are members of the blockchain that must endorse the modificationbefore the modification can be implemented by the blockchain. As anon-limiting example, when a modification to a governance policyrequires more than 50% agreement from peer nodes that are members of ablockchain, then differing combinations of peer nodes may satisfy themodification policy as long as more than half of the peer nodes agree.

The necessary signers or combination of signers may be identified fromthe already established governance policies which are stored on theblockchain. For example, the governance policies may be stored in ablock on the blockchain, and each may include a reference to a principalor other entity that is needed to approve of a modification to agovernance policy. The principal may represent a group of nodes/users, aspecific user, and the like. The reference may be used to identify anode within a recursive data structure corresponding to the principaland storing signature information (i.e., a signature policy) formodifying each of the governance policies. Each governance policy mayrequire different signers or a different combination of signers. In someembodiments, the recursive data structure may be hierarchical and may berecursive in that nodes representing principals and their signaturepolicies that are positioned higher in the graph (i.e., closer to theroot node) require a greater amount of agreement than nodes lower in thegraph. An example of the recursive data structure is shown in FIG. 4D.

In the example of FIG. 2C, the initiator node 251 determines thatsigning node 252 and signing node 253 are required to endorse themodification to the governance policy. In 262, the initiator 251solicits agreement (signatures) to the set of modifications from thesigning nodes 252 and 253 which are required to satisfy the modificationpolicies. In 263, the initiator node receives the requested signaturesfrom the signing nodes 252 and 253 thereby endorsing the change to thegovernance policies. Once a sufficient set of signatures has beencollected which satisfies the modification policy, the initiator 251packages them together along with the proposed modifications and submitsthe transaction to an ordering node 254, in 264. The ordering node 254may store the modification transaction within a data block containingone or more other transactions (traditional, modifications, etc.) andbroadcast the new data block to the peer nodes of the blockchainnetwork, in 265. Furthermore, in 266, the peer nodes that receive thedata block including the modification to the governance policies verifythat the transaction is valid (contains sufficient signatures accordingto the governance policies) and if so, commits it. The modifiedgovernance configuration applied throughout the blockchain network in267. Accordingly, all subsequent transactions on the blockchain will bestored and managed according to the modified governance policies.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a permissioned blockchain network 300,which features a distributed, decentralized peer-to-peer architecture,and a certificate authority 318 managing user roles and permissions. Inthis example, the blockchain user 302 may submit a transaction to thepermissioned blockchain network 310. In this example, the transactioncan be a deploy, invoke, query, or the like, and may be issued through aclient-side application leveraging an SDK, directly through a REST API,or the like. Trusted business networks may provide access to regulatorsystems 314, such as auditors (the Securities and Exchange Commission ina U.S. equities market, for example). Meanwhile, a blockchain networkoperator may 308 manage member permissions, such as enrolling theregulator system 310 as an “auditor” and the blockchain user 302 as a“client.” An auditor could be restricted only to querying the ledgerwhereas a client could be authorized to deploy, invoke, and querycertain types of chaincode.

A blockchain developer system 316 writes chaincode and client-sideapplications. The blockchain developer system 316 can deploy chaincodedirectly to the network through a REST interface. To include credentialsfrom a traditional data source 330 in chaincode, the developer system316 could use an out-of-band connection to access the data. In thisexample, the blockchain user 302 connects to the network through a peernode 312. Before proceeding with any transactions, the peer node 312retrieves the user's enrollment and transaction certificates from thecertificate authority 318. In some cases, blockchain users must possessthese digital certificates in order to transact on the permissionedblockchain network 310. Meanwhile, a user attempting to drive chaincodemay be required to verify their credentials on the traditional datasource 330. To confirm the user's authorization, chaincode can use anout-of-band connection to this data through a traditional processingplatform 320. In some embodiments, a peer node 312 may also submit amodification to governance policies of the blockchain. The modificationmay be submitted by an entity controlling the peer node 312 or by ablockchain user accessing the peer node 312.

According to various embodiments, governance of permissioned blockchainnetworks is a key feature requirement ensuring that blockchain basednetworks are a success. The participants of a blockchain network needthe ability to define rules that govern the network and collectsignatures on agreement of the policies for the network. For instance,the participants of the blockchain may want to implement a policy that50% of the members have to vote to add more members or remove members.As another example, 60% of members must have to agree before a change inendorsement policy is approved. The example embodiments provide anability to clearly express governance policies within a blockchain andenforce the policies after required signatures for endorsement have beencollected.

FIG. 4A illustrates a process 400 of a new block storing governancepolicy information being added to a distributed ledger 420, according toexample embodiments, and FIG. 4B illustrates contents of a blockstructure 430 for blockchain including governance information for theblockchain, according to example embodiments. Referring to FIG. 4A, anordering node (not shown) may submit a request to modify previouslyestablished governance policies for a blockchain 422 stored on thedistributed ledger 420. Here, the modification request may be receivedby a blockchain peer node 410 that is a member of the blockchain 422.Initial governance policy information may be stored within a genesisblock 423 of the blockchain 422. Meanwhile, modifications to thegovernance policies (e.g., additions, deletions, mutations, etc.) may bestored in subsequent blocks 424 of the blockchain 422 as a transaction.The blockchain peer node 410 can read the initial governance policyinformation from the genesis block 423, and also commit modifiedgovernance policy information to a subsequent data block 424 astransactions. In this example, the data block 424 may also includetraditional blockchain transactions within the same block.

In addition to the blockchain 422, the blockchain peer node 410 may alsomaintain a current state of the assets of the blockchain 422 and theblockchain network via the state database 426 which is stored on thedistributed ledger 420. It should be appreciated that different types ofblockchain nodes/peers may be present in the blockchain networkincluding endorsing peers which simulate and endorse transactionsproposed by clients and committing peers which verify endorsements,validate transactions, and commit transactions to the distributed ledger420. In this example, the blockchain peer node 410 may perform the roleof endorser node, committer node, or both.

The distributed ledger 420 includes the blockchain 422 which storesimmutable, sequenced records in blocks, and the state database 426(current world state) maintaining a current state of the blockchain 422.One distributed ledger 420 may exist per channel and each peer maymaintain its own copy of the distributed ledger 420 for each channel ofwhich they are a member. The blockchain 422 is a transaction log,structured as hash-linked blocks where each block contains a sequence ofN transactions. Blocks may include various components such as shown inFIG. 4B. The linking of the blocks (shown by arrows in FIG. 4A) may begenerated by adding a hash of a prior block's header within a blockheader of a current block. In this way, all transactions on theblockchain 422 are sequenced and cryptographically linked togetherpreventing tampering with blockchain data without breaking the hashlinks. Furthermore, because of the links, the latest block in theblockchain 422 represents every transaction that has come before it. Theblockchain 422 may be stored on a peer file system (local or attachedstorage), which supports an append-only blockchain workload.

The current state of the blockchain 422 and the distributed ledger 420may be stored in the state database 426. Here, the current state datarepresents the latest values for all keys ever included in the chaintransaction log of the blockchain 422. In some embodiments, the statedatabase 426 may also store the most current listing of governancepolicies for the blockchain 422 as well as the entities thatsigned/endorsed the governance policies. Chaincode invocations executetransactions against the current state in the state database 426. Tomake these chaincode interactions extremely efficient, the latest valuesof all keys are stored in the state database 426. The state database 426may include an indexed view into the transaction log of the blockchain422, and therefore can be regenerated from the chain at any time. Thestate database 426 may automatically get recovered (or generated ifneeded) upon peer startup, before transactions are accepted.

Endorsing nodes receive transactions from clients and endorse thetransaction based on simulated results. Endorsing nodes hold smartcontracts which simulate the transaction proposals and which aredesigned and executed in accordance with the governance policyinformation that is stored on-chain. When an endorsing node endorses atransaction, the endorsing nodes creates a transaction endorsement whichis a signed response from the endorsing node to the client applicationindicating the endorsement of the simulated transaction. The method ofendorsing a transaction depends on an endorsement policy which may bespecified within chaincode. An example of an endorsement policy is “themajority of endorsing peers must endorse the transaction.” Differentchannels may have different endorsement policies. Endorsed transactionsare forward by the client application to an ordering service (notshown).

The ordering service accepts endorsed transactions, orders them into ablock, and delivers the blocks to the committing peers such asblockchain peer node 410. For example, the ordering service may initiatea new block when a threshold of transactions has been reached, a timertimes out, or another condition. In some embodiments, the new block mayinclude modifications to previously established governance policieswhich are stored on-chain. In this example, the modification may includea change to initial governance policies stored at genesis block 423which are subsequently recorded at data block 424.

In some embodiments, the ordering service may be made up of a cluster oforderers. The ordering service does not process transactions, smartcontracts, or maintain the shared ledger. Rather, the ordering servicemay accept the endorsed transactions and specify the order in whichthose transactions are committed to the blockchain 422 on thedistributed ledger 420. The architecture of the blockchain network maybe designed such that the specific implementation of ‘ordering’ (e.g.,Solo, Kafka, BFT, etc.) becomes a pluggable component. Transactions maybe written to the blockchain 422 in a consistent order. The order oftransactions is established to ensure that the updates to the statedatabase 426 are valid when they are committed to the network. Unlike acryptocurrency blockchain system (e.g., Bitcoin, etc.) where orderingoccurs through the solving of a cryptographic puzzle, or mining, in thisexample the parties of the distributed ledger 420 may choose theordering mechanism that best suits that network.

When the ordering service initializes a new block 424, the new block 424may be broadcast to committing peers (e.g., blockchain peer node 410,etc.) In response, each committing peer validates the transaction withinthe new block 424 by checking to make sure that the read set and thewrite set still match the current world state in the state database 426and that the data block 424 satisfies the governance policies which arestored on-chain. In some examples, the committing peer can determinewhether the read data that existed when the endorsers simulated thetransaction is identical to the current world state in the statedatabase 426 including the governance information. When the blockchainpeer node 410 validates the transactions in the new block 424, thetransaction information is written to the blockchain 422 on thedistributed ledger 420, and the state database 426 is updated with thewrite data from the read-write set. If a transaction fails, that is, ifthe blockchain node peer 410 finds that the read-write set does notmatch the current world state in the state database 426, the transactionordered into a block will still be included in that block, but it willbe marked as invalid, and the state database 426 will not be updated.

Referring to FIG. 4B, a block 430 (also referred to as a data block)that is stored on the blockchain 422 of the distributed ledger 420 mayinclude multiple data segments such as a block header 431, block data432, and block metadata 433. It should be appreciated that the variousdepicted blocks and their contents, such as block 430 and its contentsshown in FIG. 4B are merely for purposes of example and are not meant tolimit the scope of the example embodiments. In some cases, both theblock header 431 and the block metadata 433 may be smaller than theblock data 432 which stores transaction data, however this is not arequirement. The block 430 may store transactional information of Ntransactions (e.g., 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, etc.) within the blockdata 432. The block 430 may also include a link to a previous block(e.g., on the blockchain 422 in FIG. 4A) within the block header 431. Inparticular, the block header 431 may include a hash of a previousblock's header. The block header 431 may also include a unique blocknumber, a hash of the block data 432 of the current block 430, and thelike. The block number of the block 430 may be unique and assigned in anincremental/sequential order starting from zero. The first block in theblockchain may be referred to as the genesis block 423 which includesinformation about the blockchain, its members, the data stored therein,etc.

The block data 432 may store transactional information of eachtransaction that is recorded within the block 430. For example, thetransaction data may include one or more of a type of the transaction, aversion, a timestamp, a channel ID of the distributed ledger 420, atransaction ID, an epoch, a payload visibility, a chaincode path (deploytx), a chaincode name, a chaincode version, input (chaincode andfunctions), a client (creator) identify such as a public key andcertificate, a signature of the client, identities of endorsers,endorser signatures, a proposal hash, chaincode events, response status,namespace, a read set (list of key and version read by the transaction,etc.), a write set (list of key and value, etc.), a start key, an endkey, a list of keys, a Merkel tree query summary, and the like. Thetransaction data may be stored for each of the N transactions.

In some embodiments, the block data 432 may also store governance policyinformation 440 and recursive data structure information 450 identifyingsignature policy information for changing the governance policyinformation 440 which adds additional information to the hash-linkedchain of blocks in the blockchain 422. Accordingly, the governancepolicy information 440 and recursive data structure information 450 canbe stored in an immutable log of blocks on the distributed ledger 420.Some of the benefits of storing governance policy information 440 andrecursive data structure information 450 provides for dynamic on-chainmanagement of governance policies of a blockchain. Accordingly, membernodes of the blockchain can dynamically change and adapt governancepolicies in a secure and distributed way through the blockchain 422.

The block metadata 433 may store multiple fields of metadata (e.g., as abyte array, etc.). Metadata fields may include signature on blockcreation, a reference to a last configuration block, a transactionfilter identifying valid and invalid transactions within the block, lastoffset persisted of an ordering service that ordered the block, and thelike. The signature, the last configuration block, and the orderermetadata may be added by the ordering service. Meanwhile, a committer ofthe block (such as blockchain peer node 410) may add validity/invalidityinformation based on an endorsement policy, verification of read/writesets, and the like. The transaction filter may include a byte array of asize equal to the number of transactions in the block data 432 and avalidation code identifying whether a transaction was valid/invalid.

All parties processing the blockchain are responsible for enforcing thatchanges to the governance model that are authorized under the currentgovernance. Changes to governance are performed as a transaction, andtherefore do not need to be detected. During transaction processing, aconfiguration update transaction informs the processor that thistransaction modifies governance rules. The processor then builds a setof the changes to the governance proposed by the update, compiles theset of policies which must be satisfied to authorize this change, andthen evaluates that the set of signatures endorsing the proposed updatesatisfies each of the policies in that set. Because this evaluation isdeterministic, all processors will reach the same conclusion as towhether the governance update is valid or invalid, and apply, or notapply the new governance respectively.

A peer or node which disobeys the governance policy will have aninconsistent state with the rest of the network. Because its state isinconsistent, it will generally not be able to craft valid transactionsor otherwise participate meaningfully in the blockchain network. Likemany other byzantine fault tolerant systems, the guarantee is that allhonest nodes agree.

FIG. 4C illustrates a non-limiting example of governance policy content440 that may be stored on a blockchain, according to exampleembodiments. Referring to FIG. 4C, the governance policy information maygovern interactions among nodes, the blockchain, the network, and thelike. Here, each governance policy may include a policy name 442, apolicy value 444, and a reference 446 which identifies a location of asignature policy for modifying the governance policy. The reference 446may include an identification of where on the recursive data structure450 the signature policy for modifying the governance policy is stored.The content of the policy name 442, the value 444, and/or the reference446 may be encoded before being stored on the blockchain to preventunauthorized access.

Examples of types of governance policies include, but are not limited toa policy for adding a new member to the blockchain, a block size ofblocks stored on the blockchain, a block hash algorithm used for hashingblock content stored on the blockchain, a block batch timeout period, aMerkle tree width, a consensus type for approving/endorsing atransaction to be stored on the blockchain, consensus parameters (e.g.,network locations of endorsing peers, etc.), authorities and/or roles ofeach party on the blockchain, policies for changing the governancepolicies (i.e., adding, deleting policies), and the like. It should beappreciated that all types of governance policies that are known orbecome known may be stored on the blockchain as described herein, andare not to be limited by the example shown in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 4D illustrates a non-limiting example of a recursive data structure450 storing signature policy data for governing a blockchain, accordingto example embodiments. Referring to FIG. 4D, the recursive datastructure 450 may include a hierarchical graph in which nodes 451 areconnected by links 452 to identify relationships between principalentities (or identity) represented by the nodes. A principal entity mayinclude a sub-group of nodes, a particular node, an entire channel,certain roles within the blockchain (i.e., reader, writer, orderer,endorser, etc.), and the like.

Any entity with knowledge of the current governance configuration andauthority to transact on the blockchain may propose a change ingovernance. This entity must collect signatures, either out of band, orfacilitated by an application on the blockchain, from those partieswhich have authority granted by the current governance policies tocontribute a valid signature to the proposed update. The signatureinformation may be obtained from the recursive data structure 450. Theseparties may choose to agree (by contributing a signature) or disagree(by refusing to sign) depending on the proposed change.

The example embodiments define a way to govern a blockchain network. Thesystem provides a mechanism to express governance policies that areneeded to govern the blockchain based business networks. In addition,the system also provides the recursive data structure 450 which storesinformation about signature policies which are required to change(mutate) the governance policies. The signature policies areself-contained rules, defined by the recursive data structure 450. Thesignature policy defines a list of identities as principals, where aprincipal may define a literal identity (such a certificate), a role(such as member, or admin), or an organization unit. The signaturepolicy then defines allowable combinations of signatures satisfyingthese principals via a recursive structure. This recursive structureallows for policies of arbitrary depth and complexity, supporting the “Nout Of” operator (a superset of the “AND” and “OR” operators).

In the example of FIG. 4D, signature polices that are stored higher inthe data structure 450 that are closer to the root node (channel) mayrequire greater agreement (e.g., a higher percentage) than signaturepolices which are stored lower in the data structure 450 and closer tothe leaf nodes. For example, a child policy may require a subset ofsignatures that are required by a parent policy in the data structure450, however, embodiments are not limited thereto. Because the parentpolicy may require all of the signatures needed for the child policy,the parent policy may be recursive with respect to the child policy. Thesignature policies may be identified from a reference element that isstored within the governance policy information on the blockchain.Therefore, a node can quickly ascertain where in the data structure 450a signature policy for a governance policy exists.

FIG. 5A illustrates a method 510 of encoding and storing governanceinformation on-chain, according to example embodiments. For example, themethod 510 may be performed by a blockchain node such as a blockchainnetwork operator, or other admin. Referring to FIG. 5A, in 511, themethod may include generating a data block for a hash-linked chain ofblocks stored on a distributed ledger and accessible to a plurality ofcomputing nodes of a blockchain network. The data block may include agenesis block (i.e., block 0) for a blockchain. In 512, the method mayinclude storing governance policies within the generated data block. Forexample, the governance polices may govern interaction of nodes that aremembers of the blockchain with respect to transacting and storing dataon the blockchain. The generated data block may include a headerstructure, a data structure, and a metadata structure, and thegovernance policies may be encoded within the data structure of the datablock. The encoding may convert characters of the encoding policies intodifferent characters/form to enable privacy and security of the data.Each governance policy encoded within the generated data block mayinclude a policy name, policy data, and a reference to a modificationpolicy which governs modifications to the respective governance policy.

In 513, the method may include transmitting the generated data blockwith the stored governance policies therein to a plurality of peer nodesof the distributed ledger. For example, the transmitted data block maybe a genesis block that enables the peer nodes to accept the governancepolicies and join the blockchain. After joining the blockchain, the peernodes must obey the governance policies or they will have aninconsistent state with the rest of the nodes on the blockchain networkand will not be able to craft and submit valid transactions. In someembodiments, the method may further include storing the generated datablock with the encoded governance policies within the blockchain on thedistributed ledger.

As a non-limiting example, the governance policies encoded within thegenerated data block may govern one or more of a block size, a blockhashing algorithm, and a block batch timeout for the hash-linked chainof blocks. In some embodiments, the governance policies encoded withinthe generated data block may govern authorities of different nodes ofthe blockchain network with respect to the hash-linked chain of blocks.In some embodiments, the governance policies encoded within thegenerated data block may govern one or more of a consensus type andparameters of a consensus model for the hash-linked chain of blocks. Asanother example, the governance policies encoded within the generateddata block may govern how a new member is added to a list of memberscapable of accessing the hash-linked chain of blocks.

FIG. 5B illustrates a method 520 for verifying a blockchain transactionsatisfies on-chain governance policies, according to exampleembodiments. For example, the method 520 may be performed by a peer nodeon a blockchain. Referring to FIG. 5B, in 521, the method may includereceiving a request (e.g., blockchain transaction request) to commit ablockchain transaction to a hash-linked chain of blocks stored on adistributed ledger. For example, the request may include a transactionmodifying an asset stored on the blockchain.

In 522, the method may include extracting governance policies which areencoded within a data block of the hash-linked chain of blocks on thedistributed ledger. For example, the governance policies may be encodedwithin a genesis block of a blockchain. As another example, thegovernance policies may be modifications to the governance policiesstored in the genesis block and which are stored in a subsequent blockof the blockchain. The most up-to-date version of the governancepolicies may be stored in a world state database of the distributedledger. In some embodiments, the extracting may include decoding theencoded governance policies of the distributed ledger from a datasection of the data block.

In 523, the method may include determining if the blockchain requestsatisfies the extracted governance policies of the hash-linked chain ofblocks stored on the distributed ledger. For example, the peer node mayverify one or more of a block size, parties to the transaction,consensus performed, and the like, of the transaction satisfy governancepolicies of the blockchain which are stored therein. In response to theblockchain request satisfying the extracted governance policies, in 524the method may include executing the blockchain request and storing theexecuted blockchain request within another data block of the hash-linkedchain of data blocks on the distributed ledger.

In some embodiments, the determining may include determining whether ablockchain node that submitted the blockchain request is allowed toperform the blockchain request based on the extracted governancepolicies. In some embodiments, the method may further include receivingan indication of a consensus being satisfied for the blockchain request,and storing the blockchain request on the distributed ledger in responseto the consensus being satisfied. In this example, the determining mayfurther include determining whether the consensus satisfies one or moreof a consensus type and parameters of a consensus model for thehash-linked chain of blocks based on the extracted governance policies.In some embodiments, the storing of the executed blockchain request isstored in a data block having a size based on the extracted governancepolicies. As another example, the storing of the executed blockchainrequest further comprises hashing information of the executed blockchainrequest based on a hashing algorithm identified from the extractedgovernance policies.

FIG. 5C illustrates a method 530 of modifying governance informationstored on-chain, according to example embodiments. For example, themethod 530 may be performed by a peer node, an ordering node thatinteracts with the peer node, a combination of nodes, and the like,within the blockchain network and which have access to a distributedledger storing the blockchain. In 531, the method may include receivinga request to implement a modification to previously establishedgovernance policies of a blockchain. For example, the request mayinclude a request to change, add, and/or delete a governance policy withrespect to governance policies previously established for theblockchain. The request may be received locally via an input on a peernode, externally from a client user, or the like.

Each governance policy may have a signature requirement which is neededto satisfy a blockchain endorsement protocol. In 532, the method mayinclude identifying one or more requirements for the modification basedon the blockchain including one or more signature requirements. Thesignature requirements may be stored on-chain within a data block (e.g.,genesis block, a subsequent block, etc.) a world state database, etc.,which are stored on the distributed ledger. In some embodiments, theblockchain node may solicit the signatures needed for satisfying therequirements of the modification. Here, in 533 the method may includedetermining whether the one or more identified requirements aresatisfied based on signature data included within the request. Forexample, the peer node may verify the signatures needed are received.

In response, in 534, the peer node may submit the signature informationand the modification to the ordering node for approval. When theordering node receives the modification request, the ordering node mayverify the signature data, store the modification as a transaction in adata block, and broadcast the data block to the peer nodes of theblockchain. When the modification is received by the peer nodes of theblockchain, each peer node may again verify the signatures and committhe block including the modification to the governance policies to theblockchain. The storage of the modification may cause the modificationto be implemented and applied going forward such that any futuretransaction must adhere to the modified governance policies.

In some embodiments, the one or more requirements may include anidentification of a group of blockchain nodes that must provide asignature before the requested modification can be implemented. In someembodiments, the one or more requirements may be identified based on areference to a previously established governance policy which is storedwithin a data block of the blockchain. In some embodiments, thedetermining may include building a set of changes to the previouslyestablished governance policies by the requested modification andcompiling a set of corresponding modification policies which must besatisfied to authorize the set of changes. The changes may sent to theordering node as a package.

In some embodiments, the modification to the previously establishedgovernance policies may include one or more of a change in block size, achange in a block hashing algorithm, and a change in a block batchtimeout of the blockchain. In some embodiments, the modification to thepreviously established governance policies may include changing anability of a blockchain peer to one or more of transact on theblockchain and read block data from the blockchain. In some embodiments,the modification to the previously established governance policies mayinclude deleting a previously established governance policy. In someembodiments, the modification to the previously established governancepolicies may include adding a new governance policy to the previouslyestablished governance policies.

FIG. 5D illustrates a method 540 of determining a signature policy froma graph data structure, according to example embodiments. For example,the method 540 may be performed by a peer node, an ordering node thatinteracts with the peer node, a combination of nodes, and the like,within the blockchain network and which have access to a distributedledger storing the blockchain. In 541, the method may include receivinga request to modify a governance policy of a blockchain. For example,the request may be received via a local input, a client requesttransmitted via the network, or the like. In 542, the method may includeidentifying a principal identity that controls the governance policy.For example, the node may determine which nodes must sign (endorse) themodification to the governance policy based on a modification referencestored within governance policies on-chain. The modification referencemay point to a position on a graph data structure storing signaturepolicy requirements for a group of principal identities that interactwith the blockchain such as peer node users, groups, admins, orderers,certificate authority, channel, and the like.

In 543, the method may include determining an allowable combination ofsignatures of the principal identity required for modifying thegovernance policy based on the graph data structure storing signaturepolicies for endorsing modifications to governance policies, and in 544,modifying the governance policy of the blockchain based on the requestin response to an allowable combination of signatures being received. Insome cases, the allowable combination may include a quorum (more than50% of available nodes in a group, etc.). As another example, theallowable combination may include a node or a group of nodes that mustsign. As another example, the allowable combination may include “N outof M” nodes where N is less than or equal to M. In some embodiments, themethod may further include reading the graph data structure from a datablock stored in a hash-linked chain of blocks on the blockchain.

According to various embodiments, the graph data structure may include adirected acyclic graph in which the group of principal identities of theblockchain are mapped to a group of nodes arranged in a tree structure.In some embodiments, the tree structure may include a hierarchical andrecursive structure in which nodes closer to the root of the treestructure require greater signature agreement than nodes farther fromthe root of the tree structure. For example, a parent node in the treestructure may represent a signature policy that requires a signaturepolicy represented by a child node to be satisfied. In some embodiments,the principal identities may include one or more of a certificate, amember, an administrator, and an organization unit. In some embodiments,the request to modify the governance policy may include one or more of arequest to change a block size, a request to change a block hashingalgorithm, a request to change a block batch timeout of the blockchain,a request to change how new blockchain members are added, and a requestto change an ability of a blockchain peer to transact on the blockchain.

FIG. 5E illustrates a method 550 for generating a blockchain trustrating, according to example embodiments. For example, the method 550may be performed by an inspector, or the like, which has access toblockchain information of multiple different blockchain networks. In551, the method may include receiving a request for blockchaininformation from a user device. The request may include a button beingpressed via a user interface for blockchain information. In 552, themethod may include acquiring blockchain data from a plurality ofblockchains which are actively operating and available for joining. Forexample, the acquired blockchain data may include one or more oflocation diversity of nodes of the respective blockchain, certificateidentity information of nodes of the respective blockchain, nodedeployment information, chain code deployment information, and an amountof member nodes of the respective blockchain. In some embodiments, theacquired blockchain data may include governance policy informationencoded within a data block of the respective blockchain.

In 553, the method may include determining an amount of trust for eachblockchain among the plurality of blockchains based on acquiredblockchain data of the respective blockchain. In 554, the method mayinclude outputting a list identifying the plurality of blockchains wherethe identification of each blockchain on the list includes a trustindicator indicating a determined amount of trust for the respectiveblockchain. In some embodiments, the outputting may include arrangingthat plurality of blockchains on the list such that a blockchain with agreatest determined amount of trust is highest on the list. As anexample, the status indicator indicating the determined amount of trustfor a respective blockchain may include a slidable scale between alowest possible amount of trust to a highest possible amount of trust.Here, the scale may be positioned anywhere between the highest amount oftrust and the lowest amount of trust providing a ranging scale of trustratings.

In some embodiments, the outputting may further include outputting asuggestion indicating whether or not to transact on a respectiveblockchain. In some embodiments, the outputting may further includeoutputting a notification of additional criteria that must be performedbefore the user device can join a respective blockchain. In someembodiments, the method may further include disabling access to arespective blockchain that has a determined amount of trust below apredetermined threshold.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example physical infrastructure configured toperform various operations on the blockchain in accordance with one ormore of the example methods of operation according to exampleembodiments. Referring to FIG. 6A, the example configuration 600Aincludes a physical infrastructure 610 with a blockchain 620 and a smartcontract 640, which may execute any of the operational steps 612included in any of the example embodiments. The steps/operations 612 mayinclude one or more of the steps described or depicted in one or moreflow diagrams and/or logic diagrams such as shown in the examples ofFIGS. 5A-5E. The steps may represent output or written information(e.g., governance policy information, signature policy information,etc.) which is written or read from one or more smart contracts 640and/or blockchains 620 that reside on the physical infrastructure 610 ofa computer system configuration. The data can be output from an executedsmart contract 640 and/or blockchain 620. The physical infrastructure610 may include one or more computers, servers, processors, memories,and/or wireless communication devices.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example smart contract configuration amongcontracting parties and a mediating server configured to enforce thesmart contract terms on the blockchain according to example embodiments.Referring to FIG. 6B, the configuration 650B may represent acommunication session, an asset transfer session or a process orprocedure that is driven by a smart contract 640 which explicitlyidentifies one or more user devices 652 and/or 656. The execution,operations and results of the smart contract execution may be managed bya server 654. Content of the smart contract 640 may require digitalsignatures by one or more of the entities 652 and 656 which are partiesto the smart contract transaction. The results of the smart contractexecution may be written to a blockchain as a blockchain transaction.According to various embodiments, the smart contract 640 may be designedand executed according to the governance policies stored on-chain asdescribed herein.

FIG. 7A illustrates an inspector system 720 for determining trustinformation of blockchains according to example embodiments, and FIG. 7Billustrates a user interface 730 outputting a trust indicator forblockchains according to example embodiments. Referring to FIGS. 7A and7B, the inspector 720 may receive or otherwise monitor blockchainactivity among a plurality of different blockchains 701, 702, 703, and704. Through a number of different attributes of the blockchains 701-704and the networks operating the blockchains 701-704, a trust rating canbe determined which indicates a trustworthiness of a blockchain.Furthermore, a trust indicator 732 of the amount of trust can bedisplayed via a user interface 730 which provides a dynamicallymodifiable slidable scale indicating the trustworthiness of theblockchain. In some embodiments, the user interface 730 may also displaya rating (e.g., high, low, poor, good, average, etc.) and providebuttons 734 for efficiently joining a blockchain. In some embodiments, abutton 736 may be used to provide additional information about criteriato be performed before a blockchain can be joined. As another example,the ability to join a blockchain may be disabled 738.

The Blockchain as a Service user interface (UI) gives founders theability to easily invite multiple participants to the blockchain.However, founders or groups of members of the network can stipulatecertain conditions on the network members. Based on the members, theconditions, the transaction history of the blockchain, an amount oftrust can be identified from the blockchain and output to a userinterface to provide users with the ability to determine whether totransact on a blockchain, whether to take steps together with othermembers to improve their blockchain, whether to set guidelines in placeor criteria to be met for joining a blockchain, and the like. In someembodiments, the information can be output to the user via the userinterface 730.

According to various embodiments, the inspector 720 may monitor andreceive data from blockchain networks and determine a blockchain trustrating strength score based on one or more attributes of the blockchainsuch as location diversity 711, governance rules 712, member peerdeployment 713, organizational identities 714, rules of chain codedeployment, number of members on the blockchain network, and the like.Based on this information, the inspector 720 can decide which blockchainnetworks are safe and which blockchains are a risk. Furthermore, theinspector 720 may output the trust rating score via the slidableindicator 732 which indicates the trustworthiness of a blockchain. Thetrust information can enable a user to make a decision as to whether tojoin a blockchain. Also, in some cases, the inspector 720 may provideadditional criteria 736 which can describe ways to improve the networktrust rating score and/or criteria that must be met before the user canjoin the blockchain based on determinations made by the inspector 720.In some embodiments, the inspector 720 can even disable access 738 to ablockchain when the blockchain receives a trust rating score that isbelow a predetermined threshold.

The network trust rating score may be delivered via a slider scale 732.The inspector 720 may rely on a rich set of criteria to compute thenetwork trust rating score. As a non-limiting example, criteria that maybe used to determine a network's trust rating include network locationdiversity 711, rules of governance enforced 712, member peer deployment713, organizations with attested identities 714, rules of chain codedeployment 715, number of members in a blockchain network 716, and thelike.

Blockchain is a shared distributed ledger. When determining locationdiversity 711 for permissioned networks the inspector 720 may ensurethat the nodes are truly distributed. For example, the inspector 720 mayensure that a high availability of each node is on a separate datacenter and the nodes are globally distributed based on the origin ofnetwork member. Regarding the governance information 712, eachpermissioned blockchain should be guided by rules of governance that thenetwork founders and members agree to and sign off on. The inspector 720may identify different categories of rules of governance enforcement todetermine the network trust rating for instance more stringentgovernance rules are given a higher network trust score while loosegovernance rules (for instance any member can add or remove members)gets a lower network trust score.

Regarding the member peer deployment 713, deployment of peers on ablockchain enables the network trust rating to increase because it canguarantee integrated hardware security module (HSM) with highest FederalInformation Processing Standards (FIPS) compliance, locked downappliance with no privileged access and secure boot sequence for tamperevident detection. Regarding the organizational identities 714, membersmay join the network and generate certificate's that they use totransact on the network. The certificates associate the identity of themember with a cryptographic key. An identity attestation authority canvalidate and attest the identities of participating members therebyensuring greater trust in the network.

Regarding the rules of chain code deployment 715, members participatingin a network also need to agree to and sign off on the rules of chaincode deployment. Signing off on these rules is taking into account whilecomputing the network trust rating. In addition, trust of a distributedledger is increased with an increased number of members for a particularnetwork. Accordingly, the inspector 720 may take into account members716 of a particular network while computing network trust rating. Basedon these factors, the inspector 720 may compute a network trust ratingthat enables members and founders to take various actions based on thatrating. The factors that are taken into account can be adjusted and thenetwork trust rating algorithm can be optimized as the blockchaintechnology evolves. Furthermore, in some cases, actions available to auser/business via a user interface 730 may be adjusted based on thedetermined network trust ratings.

The above embodiments may be implemented in hardware, in a computerprogram executed by a processor, in firmware, or in a combination of theabove. A computer program may be embodied on a computer readable medium,such as a storage medium. For example, a computer program may reside inrandom access memory (“RAM”), flash memory, read-only memory (“ROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a compact disk read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), or any otherform of storage medium known in the art.

An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such thatthe processor may read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anapplication specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). In the alternative,the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components.For example, FIG. 8 illustrates an example computer system architecture800, which may represent or be integrated in any of the above-describedcomponents, etc.

FIG. 8 is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of useor functionality of embodiments of the application described herein.Regardless, the computing node 800 is capable of being implementedand/or performing any of the functionality set forth hereinabove.

In computing node 800 there is a computer system/server 802, which isoperational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 802 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 802 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 802 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 8, computer system/server 802 in cloud computing node800 is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Thecomponents of computer system/server 802 may include, but are notlimited to, one or more processors or processing units 804, a systemmemory 806, and a bus that couples various system components includingsystem memory 806 to processor 804.

The bus represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 802 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 802, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. System memory806, in one embodiment, implements the flow diagrams of the otherfigures. The system memory 806 can include computer system readablemedia in the form of volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM)810 and/or cache memory 812. Computer system/server 802 may furtherinclude other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computersystem storage media. By way of example only, storage system 814 can beprovided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatilemagnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Althoughnot shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to aremovable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and anoptical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable,non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other opticalmedia can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to thebus by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depictedand described below, memory 806 may include at least one program producthaving a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configuredto carry out the functions of various embodiments of the application.

Program/utility 816, having a set (at least one) of program modules 818,may be stored in memory 806 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 818 generally carry out the functionsand/or methodologies of various embodiments of the application asdescribed herein.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentapplication may be embodied as a system, method, or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present application may take theform of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present application may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Computer system/server 802 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 820 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display822, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact withcomputer system/server 802; and/or any devices (e.g., network card,modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 802 to communicate withone or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur viaI/O interfaces 824. Still yet, computer system/server 802 cancommunicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 826. As depicted, network adapter 826communicates with the other components of computer system/server 802 viaa bus. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 802. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Although an exemplary embodiment of at least one of a system, method,and non-transitory computer readable medium has been illustrated in theaccompanied drawings and described in the foregoing detaileddescription, it will be understood that the application is not limitedto the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements,modifications, and substitutions as set forth and defined by thefollowing claims. For example, the capabilities of the system of thevarious figures can be performed by one or more of the modules orcomponents described herein or in a distributed architecture and mayinclude a transmitter, receiver or pair of both. For example, all orpart of the functionality performed by the individual modules, may beperformed by one or more of these modules. Further, the functionalitydescribed herein may be performed at various times and in relation tovarious events, internal or external to the modules or components. Also,the information sent between various modules can be sent between themodules via at least one of: a data network, the Internet, a voicenetwork, an Internet Protocol network, a wireless device, a wired deviceand/or via plurality of protocols. Also, the messages sent or receivedby any of the modules may be sent or received directly and/or via one ormore of the other modules.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that a “system” could be embodiedas a personal computer, a server, a console, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a cell phone, a tablet computing device, a smartphoneor any other suitable computing device, or combination of devices.Presenting the above-described functions as being performed by a“system” is not intended to limit the scope of the present applicationin any way but is intended to provide one example of many embodiments.Indeed, methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein may beimplemented in localized and distributed forms consistent with computingtechnology.

It should be noted that some of the system features described in thisspecification have been presented as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom verylarge-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelfsemiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discretecomponents. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardwaredevices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable arraylogic, programmable logic devices, graphics processing units, or thelike.

A module may also be at least partially implemented in software forexecution by various types of processors. An identified unit ofexecutable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions that may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified module need not be physically locatedtogether but may comprise disparate instructions stored in differentlocations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module andachieve the stated purpose for the module. Further, modules may bestored on a computer-readable medium, which may be, for instance, a harddisk drive, flash device, random access memory (RAM), tape, or any othersuch medium used to store data.

Indeed, a module of executable code could be a single instruction, ormany instructions, and may even be distributed over several differentcode segments, among different programs, and across several memorydevices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustratedherein within modules and may be embodied in any suitable form andorganized within any suitable type of data structure. The operationaldata may be collected as a single data set or may be distributed overdifferent locations including over different storage devices, and mayexist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system ornetwork.

It will be readily understood that the components of the application, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.Thus, the detailed description of the embodiments is not intended tolimit the scope of the application as claimed but is merelyrepresentative of selected embodiments of the application.

One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that theabove may be practiced with steps in a different order, and/or withhardware elements in configurations that are different than those whichare disclosed. Therefore, although the application has been describedbased upon these preferred embodiments, it would be apparent to those ofskill in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternativeconstructions would be apparent.

While preferred embodiments of the present application have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and the scope of the application is to be definedsolely by the appended claims when considered with a full range ofequivalents and modifications (e.g., protocols, hardware devices,software platforms etc.) thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computing system comprising: a networkinterface configured to receive a request to commit a blockchain requestto a hash-linked chain of blocks stored on a distributed ledger; and aprocessor configured to extract governance policies which are encodedwithin a data block of the hash-linked chain of blocks on thedistributed ledger, determine if the blockchain request satisfies theextracted governance policies of the hash-linked chain of blocks on thedistributed ledger, and, in response to successful satisfaction of theextracted governance policies, execute the blockchain request and storethe executed blockchain request within another data block of thehash-linked chain of data blocks on the distributed ledger.
 2. Thecomputing system of claim 1, wherein the processor extracts the encodedgovernance policies from a genesis data block of the hash-linked chainof blocks.
 3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to determine whether a blockchain node that submitted theblockchain request is allowed to perform the blockchain request based onthe extracted governance policies.
 4. The computing system of claim 1,wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indication ofa successful consensus for the blockchain request, and store theblockchain request on the distributed ledger in response to a successfulconsensus.
 5. The computing system of claim 4, wherein the processor isfurther configured to determine whether the consensus satisfies one ormore of a consensus type and parameters of a consensus model for thehash-linked chain of blocks based on the extracted governance policies.6. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to decode the encoded governance policies of the distributedledger from a data section of the data block.
 7. The computing system ofclaim 1, wherein the executed blockchain request is stored in a datablock that has a size based on the extracted governance policies.
 8. Thecomputing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configuredto hash information of the executed blockchain request based on a hashalgorithm identified from the extracted governance policies.
 9. A methodcomprising: receiving a request to commit a blockchain request to ahash-linked chain of blocks stored on a distributed ledger; extractinggovernance policies which are encoded within a data block of thehash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger; determining ifthe blockchain request satisfies the extracted governance policies ofthe hash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger; and inresponse to the blockchain request satisfying the extracted governancepolicies, executing the blockchain request and storing the executedblockchain request within another data block of the hash-linked chain ofdata blocks on the distributed ledger.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the extracting comprises extracting the encoded governancepolicies from a genesis data block of the hash-linked chain of blocks.11. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining comprises determiningwhether a blockchain node that submitted the blockchain request isallowed to perform the blockchain request based on the extractedgovernance policies.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprisingreceiving an indication of a consensus being satisfied for theblockchain request, and storing the blockchain request on thedistributed ledger in response to the consensus being satisfied.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the determining further comprisesdetermining whether the consensus satisfies one or more of a consensustype and parameters of a consensus model for the hash-linked chain ofblocks based on the extracted governance policies.
 14. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the extracting comprises decoding the encodedgovernance policies of the distributed ledger from a data section of thedata block.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the storing of theexecuted blockchain request is stored in a data block having a sizebased on the extracted governance policies.
 16. The method of claim 9,wherein the storing of the executed blockchain request further compriseshashing information of the executed blockchain request based on ahashing algorithm identified from the extracted governance policies. 17.A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, thatwhen read by a processor, cause the processor to perform a methodcomprising: receiving a request to commit a blockchain request to ahash-linked chain of blocks stored on a distributed ledger; extractinggovernance policies which are encoded within a data block of thehash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger; determining ifthe blockchain request satisfies the extracted governance policies ofthe hash-linked chain of blocks on the distributed ledger; and inresponse to the blockchain request satisfying the extracted governancepolicies, executing the blockchain request and storing the executedblockchain request within another data block of the hash-linked chain ofdata blocks on the distributed ledger.
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 17, wherein the extracting comprises extractingthe encoded governance policies from a genesis data block of thehash-linked chain of blocks.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 17, wherein the determining comprises determiningwhether a blockchain node that submitted the blockchain request isallowed to perform the blockchain request based on the extractedgovernance policies.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein the method further comprises receiving an indicationof a consensus being satisfied for the blockchain request, and storingthe blockchain request on the distributed ledger in response to theconsensus being satisfied.